What do women in the subway know?

books:

	• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers Vintage, 2001 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 917 reviews view larger image
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My favorite book

I love this book and I recommend it highly to anyone who asks. Its tragic, funny, and well-written. Its great.

Still one of my favorites

Everyone can relate to the writing of this book. Expecially, the Generations Exers that grew up in the midwest. The story itself is tragically hilarious and entertaing. But it's the way that Eggers writes that really grips the reader. Everything that he talks about is something that can related to in some form.
A true enjoyment to read.

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What do women in the subway know?

I bought A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS after seeing the title in the hands of a woman on the subway. She chatted with the guy next to her, telling him it was funny as *heck* but just as profound. The guy replied that he'd seen it in a bookstore and it had piqued his interest. He proceeded to ask more questions. I thought to myself two things: 1) "Is he hitting on her?" and 2) "I should look into that book."

Upon finishing the book, I wanted to believe he was just hitting on her. The woman was right: GENIUS made me laugh out loud at times. But in others it crept to a standstill with so much gazing into its own navel. Such random introspection often proved Teflon-esque for my imagination because I wanted to get back to Eggers' past. And his past is tragic, to be sure, and insightful when Eggers manages to pepper it with only *light* philosophizing. Yet too often he ventures wayward and tries to untangle the big questions of life, bludgeoning you over the head and testing your patience in the process (a good example of this is the Real World interview...I wondered if that thing would ever finish or arrive at a point).

In the end, GENIUS' self-consciousness handcuffs it from rising above average. If such parts were excised then I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. As it is, however, I can only say that you won't miss much if you skip the gimmicky and otherwise bloated queries about the meaning of life and death. Stick to the story instead.

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FREAKING HYSTERICAL 10 stars!

Eggers is a generous person and just gave it to me. It's hard to believe a person can deal with both parents dying 32 days apart but this is the funniest book I've ever read. The first part is a little slow but when he moves to San Fran with his brother it's so great I read it twice. Eggers is writing a story of me and my brother Dave Schultz and Dave's murderer. Dave and I are the only American brothers to win Olympic and World Wrestling Titles.

reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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